Magelet the Cretin
by RedNemi
Summary: A child, having been cast out of her family, is taken in by Link and his Grandfather. Oh bummer; you'll have to read to find out anything else.
1. To Choose a Side

It began with a drop, then a few more, and finally a steady rain torrented down upon my parents' property. I looked at it with a smile. My power was finally in control of the elements of weather, and I could make it rain. I closed my eyes and opened my arms to it.

"Autumn, child, what are you doing out in this cold?"

Bann, the butler, chided me and ran out, picking me up and carrying me inside. It wasn't until I felt his touch that I realized that it _was_ cold. The rain I created froze in sheets on the ground, and the fire roared in the parlor, where my mother entertained her guests with stories of my babyhood. But my obsession with sorcery never came up, in public nor private conversation. It was the only thing about me my family hated, and if it weren't for the magic, I would be the Golden Child in their minds, I would get what I wanted, I would be able to knowingly break the rules. But because of my involvement in magic, they all grew distant from me except at mealtimes, where out of courtesy I didn't mention the topic nor did I perform anything relevant to the topic. Other than that, Bann was my only ally. My father tried, but my mother did her best to keep him away from me. I was only eight, and my family was afraid of me. Chalice and Dawn, my sisters, and Geoffry and Alec, my brothers, all picked on me when they thought I couldn't hear and my name was like a curse to them. They blamed everything on me because I was the one wielding the sorcery, I could be the cause of anything and everything in their minds.

Bann brought me inside and dried me up.

"Now what were you doing out there in the cold and wet, pray tell?" He dabbed a washcloth against my face.

"I was making it rain," I said. "Bann I did it, I made it rain!"

"Are you sure that wasn't just the clouds we saw yesterday?"

"The clouds we saw yesterday aren't relevant to the weather today unless they're still there in the morning, and they weren't. I formed the clouds in the sky and I made it rain, Bann!"

He was skeptical, I could see, and a frown formed across my face.

"You don't believe me," I said.

"Of course I believe you, love, only you could make it rain on such short notice." He smiled at me, and I saw that he _did_ believe me.

"What's this?" Chalice strode quickly into the room, tears in her eyes. "Am I hearing this correctly? You're telling me that _you're_ to blame for this dreadful weather? _You're_ the cause of my party being cancelled and the ruination of a perfectly good dress? I'll kill you!" She reached out to me, her fingers stiff, but Bann stepped between us.

"Chalice, darling, please calm down. If you're going to point fingers, you only have yourself to blame, because since you and your siblings refuse to confide in Autumn no matter the subject, how was she to know that you were intended to go to a party this afternoon? How was she to know you intended to wear that dress to it? If you don't tell her anything you can hardly expect her to yield to your wishes, which I can assure you she would do because you're her sister and despite the silent treatment you typically give her, she loves you as such."

Chalice was deathly silent, her gaze piercing.

"Bann, throughout the years I have politely respected your nature and disposition, even though they did encourage the development of that _abomination_, but now, if you're going to keep me from punishing her for her wrongdoings, Mother and Father will see you as fraudulent and you will be fired. Now step aside!"

"Chalice, you're in a rage, your judgment is blinded."

"No, I can assure you my judgment is just fine, now step aside."

"But you'll hurt Autumn if I do!"

"I'll hurt you if you don't and in any case, she deserves it! You took pleasure in carrying out Mother's punishments for the rest of us when we were her age, now you should at least give me the courtesy of allowing me to indulge in my own carrying out of punishments!"

"First of all, I'll have you know that I did not take pleasure in that, in fact I thought your mother's punishments for the small things you children did wrong were most outrageous. Secondly, Autumn has done nothing wrong and you have no reason to seek revenge. Thirdly, if I think that your judgment is impaired and stepping aside would cause unnecessary damage to an innocent little girl, then I'm not going to step aside." His voice grew louder. Chalice had been yelling the whole time, and certainly Mother's guests had heard and were questioning the argument, and as Bann's voice rose in my defense, they got both sides of the conversation. My mother strode into the room.

"Bann!"

They both stopped, Chalice turned around slowly. I reached for Bann's dangling hand, which had reached down to rest on my head and nudge me behind him as he tried to ward of my sister.

"Bann. We hired you seventeen years ago because we needed someone to help look after the twins and we also knew that as they grew up the house would become impossible to handle on our own. But the operative word there is 'hired'. We _hired_ you. You work for us, and you are to work for us, not against us. If Chalice commands you to do something, then you will do it. From what I understand, the younger one hasn't commanded you to do anything, and even if she did, Chalice's command would take precedence because Chalice is older and she has no reason to be disobeyed."

"I understand this Madame, and I'm sorry for disobeying the noble Chalice, but Autumn has done nothing to deserve whatever punishment Chalice would have given her, and in such circumstances, until I am given a good reason to step aside and permit such cruelty, I shall not," Bann said firmly. Mother's eyes flashed.

"Respect and a paycheck ought to be reasons good enough. You are merely a butler, and Chalice is one of the people you serve. It is clear to me that this no longer means anything to you, as you are still standing before the abomination that is that child. Therefore, you may pack your bags and return to the streets. While I do hope that you will find another job, I hope also that it is one that suits your deserved credibility which, frankly, does not seem to amount to much these days since you started confiding in _her_."

I could only imagine Bann's face. He stuttered something and his hand instinctively reached down to me and squeezed my hands, then pulled me as close to him as possible.

"Well...Ma...Madame...It has certainly been a pleasure serving you...all these years...And I hope you will find another who can replace me and then some," he said, his voice shaking. Tears welled in my right eye, the eye that no one else saw due to a wave of lavenderish hair that I kept to hide it so that I could hide my emotions. The right side of my face was the side that cried, the side that smiled in happiness, the side that frowned in misery. The other side could do the same things, but my left eye never changed, my left brow never furrowed, the left side of my face was always bland. Bann turned around and looked down at me, his own eyes welling up.

"I'm sorry," he mouthed to me, for he knew Mother would scold him should he kneel down to speak to me himself. My lower lip began to quiver slightly, and I looked past him in fear of Chalice's smirk. Her eyes met mine, and the smirk became a snarl.

"I'll get you, you filthy little whore!" She shoved Bann aside and with a terrified cry I ran. I ran out into the rain, where she stopped to save the dress from more humiliation.

"Let her run," my Mother said. "Maybe she'll get lost and be eaten by the wolves. In that case, Bann, you are permitted to stay and maintain your respectable status among your fellow butlers, but I command you now. Don't mention her name ever again, don't go looking for her, and for godsakes, don't decline this offer because you care about her." There was little Bann could do but watch me disappear into the forest, his heart sinking deeper and deeper with every step I took that led me further and further away from them.

The path in the woods was muddy and slick, and I slipped and fell often, but I did not stop until my feet refused to take me any further. The bottoms of my shoes had worn off and the soles of my feet began to blister and bleed. I finally stopped running and collapsed in the field I was in, my tears finally squishing themselves from both of my eyes instead of just one. I pounded the ground, and the thunder resounded with each strike, the rain fell down harder with each tear I dropped, and I was soaked through. Finally I fell the rest of the way to the grass and my consciousness left me, but the rain continued.

* * *

**Edit:**

**MANDATORY TIMELINE DISCLAIMER: This story has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with UnfortunateFateLand or any subsequent sequels or prequels of that story! DON'T TRY TO GROUP THEM TOGETHER! YOU WILL BE HOPELESSLY CONFUSED!**

**Original A/N:**

**I'm at something of a standstill in my other story. I know what's gonna happen, I just don't wanna write it yet XD. Poor Vato u.u\\\. So here ya go, another story of mine. Same game, same OC, different angle of approach. We're not even in Minishland right now, we're in some not-on-the-Minish-Cap-overworld place that's somewhere beyond West Hyrule Field.**

**It will become more of a fanfiction next chapter; right now it looks pretty original, I know. But we're in Zeldaland, I promise. ^-^**

**I hope you enjoy this intro; please review!**


	2. Taken In

"Now what's this you're telling me-oh, lord Link! How long has she been here do you think?"

"Probably just since the storm the other day, I think. I've never seen her before."

_Voices...  
_  
I immediately thought of Chalice and her rage, and instinctively I shivered.

"She's moving! Quick, let's get her to the house and lay her down."

Hands lifted me by the arms and ankles and they carried me over was sounded like grass and, eventually, stairs. A door creaked open and the temperature dropped noticeably in the transition from outdoors to indoors.

"How old do you think she is?" The boy spoke. He sounded young.

"Probably not too much older than yourself."

They placed me on a hard surface, possibly the floor, and a damp cloth was placed on my forehead. I opened my eyes, relieved to find that the hair part that covered the right side of my face was still functional.

"Grandfather, she's awake! Hi there, I'm Link." A boy in green looked over at me with a wide smile.

"I'm Autumn."

"Where're you from?"

"I...I don't know."

"How do you not know where you're from?"

"I ran away from home and wasn't paying much attention to where I was going."

"Why were you running away from home?"

"Link, stop asking questions." His grandfather chided him.

"But why-"

"Link."

I sat up slowly and looked around. They had set me down on a table, not the floor, and they stood on either side of me, exchanging distorted facial expressions with each other, then Link covered his mouth as he burst out giggling.

"My family hates me, that's why I ran," I said quietly. They looked over at me.

"Why do they hate you?" Link asked promptly, then smacked himself under the pointed stare of the old man.

"They, uh..." I struggled over what to tell them. "They disapproved of me."

"Can you go back to them?" The child didn't even look at the elder's face.

"I'd rather not."

"But-"

The old man walked around the table and put a hand on the boy's shoulder, pushing him back a bit and looking at me with a warm smile.

"Well, Autumn, you're welcome to stay here as long as you like."

"Thank you, sir, but I really shouldn't."

"No, you're not well. Stay with us a while, and then you can decide whether you want to stay or leave. How old are you?"

"Eight."

"Well, Link here is just three years younger than you. He's five. Don't worry, Autumn, you'll be fine here." They both smiled at me.

* * *

After a few month, I decided to stay, but I never told them of my obsession with magic. If my siblings and mother were so quick to discriminate against me for it, what would Link and his grandfather say? They seem nice enough, but even Chalice can be pretty decent to the public eye when she sees fit. No, it's best not to tell them at all. Instead, while exploring, I happened upon a sort of clearing in the Minish Woods, as I learned the foresty area nearby was called. It was secluded and I could make lots of noise without attracting attention, proven when I completely destroyed the place by swirling the winds at such speeds as to rip the trees from their roots and slam them into the other parts of the forest walls, and thus designated this place as my practice area. Depending on my mood, I made it rain, I made it snow, I made the winds blow so fast the trees nearly cracked and fell over, I played with short gusts of wind that sent fallen leaves everywhere.

"What do you do when you go out every day?" Link asked me over dinner one day, perhaps a year later. Time is a fickle thing, and it runs quickly without being noticed on many occassions.

I shrugged, "Just walk around and look at stuff."

"Huh? That's it?"

"Yeah."

"That sounds boring."

"It can be, depending on what I find to look at."

"Find anything interesting tonight?"

"Not really-oh yeah! There's a moss-covered bridge that runs over a deep abyss and connects one side of the Woods to the other."

"An abyss?"

"Yeah, like a never-ending hole or something. I'm kinda wondering how it got there."

"How did the bridge get there?"

"Also, some of the trees have giant throny sheets that cover their southern edge."

"Really?"

"Yeah. The vines just come up out of the ground right in front of them and they don't even wind around the trunk or anything, they just tangle themselves up on that one side."

"Wow. Can I come with you tomorrow? I wanna see this."

"But tomorrow's Princess Zelda's birthday, you have to go to her party."

"Aren't you going too?"

"Link, she's never even met me. There's no reason for me to go."

"She sent you an invitation!"

"Which I politely declined weeks ago."

Grandfather gasped, "Autumn! You didn't!"

"Well...she doesn't know who I am; I'm pretty sure my invitation was just a courtesy invite because I know Link."

"You'll have to meet her sometime, and a birthday party is as good a time as any!"

I squirmed under his gaze. "But I already declined it, I can't go now."

"You can change your mind! I'm sure she wants to meet you-you've only been living here for what, a year? It's about time you did!"

"But-"

"Autumn, really. Zelda is the _Princess_ of Hyrule. What gave you the impression that it was in your place to decline _her_ party invitation?"

"Well..." I mumbled, "She doesn't _know _me, and a birthday party is kind of personal. I wouldn't want people I didn't know at my own birthday party."

"If she didn't want you there, she wouldn't have sent you the invitation."

"And it's _tomorrow_! It's a little late to change my mind!"

"Autumn, you're going. It would be too late if you decided you wanted to go when it was halfway over, but it hasn't even started yet. I'm sure they'll let you in as long as you give them adequate notification."

"But it's tomorrow!"

"No buts! If you hurry you can get the letter to the postman before dark."

He stared pointedly at me. I looked wildly over at Link, but he simply turned his gaze from Gramps to myself as we spoke, his eyes wide and eager for the progression of this conversation. He realized I was looking at him.

"You really should go, Autumn. Last year she missed you."

"YOU DID THIS LAST YEAR!?" Gramps scowled at me. "You told me you just weren't invited last year."

"Well-"

"That does it-get up right now and go write your response revision letter, and go run it to the postman. You probably don't even have to tell him that it's first priority because he mails ever letter pretty much as soon as he receives it."

"Right now?"

"Right now. Go on."

I stood and glared at Link's giddy face. _Ooh, Autumn's getting in trouble! Hehe, what fun, what fun!_ My thoughts bore a snide misrepresentation of his actual voice, and I distorted my face as I thought them and held my hands up and waved them around as I stalked from the room.

She doesn't even know me!

* * *

**I wanted to just skip right to the MinishCapLand timeline and go straight to the part where Vaati shows up, but that would have involved some serious timelapsing and summarizing and ugh, it sounded awful when I read it to myself. There's still some timelapsing going on in this chapter, but hopefully it's more subtle and slower-paced than a straight up summary.**

**This is very clearly a fanfiction now!**

**MANDATORY CHARACTER DISCLAIMER: I don't own Zelda, Link, or Link's Grandfather, dubbed Gramps for the sake of nicknames. The only characters I own in this story are the ones I put in the last chapter, and in that case I don't care too much for, so the only one that I will actively claim as my own is Autumn.**

**I hope you enjoy this installment; please review!**

**(I AM working on Chapter 5 of Making-of-a-LegendLand, it's just that I have this pretty much prewritten, so I just have to do extensive proofreading and revising and it's pretty sold. Yeah...I don't enjoy thinking about that chapter, so I'm working on it very slowly...)**


	3. Zelda's Having a Party

"I know she's a Princess...and this is her birthday party...but do I really have to go dressed like this?" I held my arms out and looked down at myself. Gramps, unversed in the ways of female garb, had gone out BY HIMSELF to the dress shop last night and bargained for me a light blue knee-length dress with split flared sleeves that made me look like a sailor's girlfriend. He also insisted that I do something with my hair, and so I pulled it up into a crude, loose bun that was already unraveling and causing the great mass to form swirls that threatened to fall out at any second. At least he didn't make me wear heels.

"Yes, Autumn. She is a Princess, so you don't want to arrive looking like you just got done with the chores, do you?" Gramps narrowed his eyes at me. "I don't know why you're so against this. It's just a party!"

"She's three years younger than me!"

"So? You still have to meet her sometime. Apparently she invited you _last_ year, but you weasled your way out of that one and didn't go."

"The reasoning I held then remains the same."

"Well, from now on you won't have an excuse."

I fidgeted in the dress, itching to trade it in for something more comfortable, like a tunic or something. Ugh. I don't know _how_ I managed to wear these all the time at my parents' house.

"Well, come on, Link, let's go," I mumbled, taking Link by the wrist and dragging him to the door.

"Wait! I forgot my present!" Link ran up the stairs and I stared after him.

"Was I supposed to get her a present too?" I asked.

"It would have been nice, but since you didn't decide you were going until last night, you'll just have to get something on your way in."

Link tumbled back down the stairs with a small, wrapped package in his hand, which he carefully tucked into one of his pockets. I folded my arms and looked him over for a few seconds. Instead of his usual green tunic and white pants, he wore a spiffy black suit.

"Link, that bow tie makes you look like a butler."

"I'm not a butler! How do _you_ know what a butler looks like anyway?" He stepped back defensively.

I rolled my eyes, "You look like a servant is my point. Come on, let's just go." I opened the door and waved him through. "See ya, Gramps."

"Have a good time. Say hi to the Princess for me." Gramps shut the door behind us.

"What are you gonna get her?" Link asked.

"I dunno, any ideas?"

"Uh...no. I'm not a girl, how would I know what she likes?"

I glanced down at him. "You're the one who has a present here. You obviously know something, and that something is more than I know right now."

"Well, I...uh..." Link's face reddened and he looked away.

"What're you so embarrassed about? I've never met her, how should I know anything about her? You've met her a bunch of times, so of course you would have an idea as to what she likes. Nothing wrong with that." I frowned at him and shook my head.

* * *

The owner of the town shop looked at us with mistrusting eyes as we entered his store, as if we would circle around some of his precious items and waltz away with them. They burned into the back of my neck as I went through one row after the next, searching for something a princess would like. I flicked my own eyes up to his a few times while browsing, and each time, he just stared me down suspciously. I snorted to myself. Like we could even _think_ about stealing stuff here. His aisles are barely as tall as Link, so it's not like they obstruct his view of the customers, since there aren't any in front of the check-out counter itself. I turned my back to him and looked around at the rows once more. Arrows, bombs, boomarang...why is this guy selling weapons? It's not like there are any monsters around to use them on. How is he not out of business?

There was nothing there that would suit the interests of a princess, not as I saw it. Unless Zelda liked weaponry or mysterious, blue-colored seashells, then I was out of luck. I took Link by the wrist again and dragged him out.

Inspecting the center kiosks helped less than actually going into the store did, and at his insistent whining, I finally just gave up and we left through the north exit. I decided to tackle the subject again.

"So, you've been around her before, what's Zelda like?" I asked. Again with the blushing.

"Well, she's...you know...girly. She likes pink things and dresses and the last time I was there she tried to get us all to dance with each other."

"Oh? Who'd she pick to be her partner?"

"Uh...me."

"Huh..."

We walked over the crossbridge into the castle garden.

"Hey, Link. Who's this?" A blond teenage boy dressed in a squire's tunic pointed his wooden practice sword at me.

"This is Autumn, she's my..." Link paused, then looked up at me with a quizzical expression.

"Hm? I didn't hear you." The squire stooped to hear him.

"She's my sister," he said finally.

"Really? I didn't know you had a sister."

"Oh yeah, I do." Link grinned. "Just another one of those mysteries you have yet to discover."

The teenager laughed. "Okay, kid. Her Highness awaits you two in the second floor. Just follow the party signs."

"Ok." Link rushed away from him, dragging me with him.

"Who was that?" I asked.

"That was squire Eric. The soldiers put the soon-to-be-soldiers guys on guard duty in the afternoon so they learn how to do their job. He's been there for a while."

"Then-holy Goddess."

The walls of the room we stepped into were literally COVERED-floor to ceiling-with posters saying "Party upstairs!" and "Come upstairs for the party!"

"How did they have time to make this?"

"Well...Zelda's a princess..." Link shrugged and ran up one of the staircases. "Come on," he called over his shoulder.

* * *

I stepped into a brightly-lit hallway with walls plastered with "Go this way!" posters. Link was far ahead of me-probably already sipping tea with Her Highness and exchanging gossip with her and her other friends. The signs led me to a large door decorated with three triangles arranged into one large triangle and an abstract interpretation of wings beneath it. This must be the place of the party. I opened the door. Conversations that had loudly traveled through the air from one end of the room to the next suddenly stopped, and all the inhabitants of the room stopped what they were doing and stared at me.

"Autumn!" Link called to me from across the room. My eyes found him. He grinned stupidly at me and gestured for me to pick my way around the people sitting on the floor and find my way over to him. He stood next to a girl child who looked to be about his age. Her blond hair flowed down to her waist except for two short strands that fell neatly in front of her ears. She wore a floor-length pink dress embroidered down the front with that same triangular design in addition to some box pattern that lined the bottom. Her blue eyes inspected me as I approached.

"Autumn, this is Princess Zelda. Autumn, Zelda, Zelda, Autumn." Link smiled widely and looked from Zelda to me to Zelda again. I smiled shyly and bowed .

"Happy birthday Princess," I said, then looked back at the people surrounding us, who were slowly beginning to revive their conversations. They all looked like they were around Link's age.

"Hey, are you listening?" Zelda poked me and I whirled my head back to face her.

"Huh?"

"Ok, now you are. Hi! I'm glad you could make it this year, and it's nice to finally meet you! You're one of the first things Link talks about whenever I see him."

Link's jaw dropped slightly and his face reddened.

"Oh? You're practically all he talks about at home. He finds something to relate to you, no matter what he's doing."

He stared at me with pleading eyes.

"Really? Link, is this true?" Zelda turned to him with an innocent smile and he bowed his head so she wouldn't see his face.

"Oh yeah. Not a sentence goes by that he doesn't say something that might pertain to you," I said with a smirk.

She just giggled and punched him lightly in the shoulder. She turned to a girl that was pestering her, and when Link looked back up at me, his face bore the most malevolent glare I had ever seen on him. I smiled sweetly.

"What?"

"Why did you have to do that?" he asked, his voice quiet.

"Do what?"

"Lie. You _know_ I don't talk about her that often."

I made a gesture like I was brushing him off. "Pssh. Why does it bother you? It was a simple exaggeration; nothing to get all huffed up about."

"You've humiliated me!"

"Oh, she's probably already forgotten it. Quit your worrying; you'll attract attention to yourself and people will begin to form suspicions."

"Like what?" He actually seemed concerned about this.

"Like, I don't know..." I grinned evilly. "They might start thinking you like her."

He yelped quietly and covered his face with his hands. "What? Why would they think that? Why would I like her? She's just a girl!"

"Yeah, and girls have cooties, I know. That's why you hang out with me all the time."

"You live with me, that's different!"

"Really? I'm still a girl, you know."

"Same difference!"

"That statement conradicts itself."

He sat down with his face buried in his arms. Aww...I've gone and made him self-conscious and anxious about nothing worth being anxious about. I sat down next to him and put my arm around his shoulders.

"It's okay, Link. I don't think anyone will actually think that, I'm just messing with you."

"Don't mess with me," he mumbled.

"I won't anymore, not tonight anyway. I promise."

"Really? You mean it?" He looked up. His face had lost its redness surprisingly quickly.

"I mean it."

"Thank you."

I patted his shoulders and stood up and snuck a look around the room. No one was paying attention to me-they all sat in their own little groups and gossiped or they talked to Zelda about who-knows-what. This is my chance. I can escape. I picked my way through the room and found my way back to the door.

"Ok everyone!" Zelda cried joyfully just as I put my hand on the doorknob. "We can start the games now!"

My heart sank deeper than my stomach. Games.

* * *

**Oooh, birthday games! Quick, give me some suggestions! I have some ideas, but I'm open to more haha.**

**Link and Autumn are on sort of good terms again now; this will be tried in the next chapter.**

**I hope you enjoyed this; please review!**


	4. Children will be Children

The kids in the room all cheered and jumped up and down. I turned around and waited patiently.

"What kind of games?" someone asked, her high voice dripping with excitement.

"Well, to start..." Zelda giggled and ran to a corner of a room and picked something up. She turned around, holding a long, slender, clear bottle. The girls squealed in anticipation and gathered in a circle, and she placed the bottle in the center of this circle. "We can play Spin the Bottle! Come on, Autumn, join us!" She held her hand out to me with an inviting smile.

"Um...can I sit out of this one?" I asked. She frowned for a second, but her face quickly regained its brightness and she shrugged.

"Sure!" She turned to the six boys present. "Who wants to go first?"

They all exchanged glances and Link shoved a zoned-out, brown-haired boy forward.

"Wait, what?" He stumbled and looked over the shoulders of two girls and laid eyes on the bottle. "What!? No! Please no." He stepped backwards with a reddening face, but Link pushed him forward again with a smirk.

"Come on, Harrison, don't be shy." Zelda giggled again and knelt at her place in the circle, reaching out and giving the bottle a good spin. When it slowed to a stop, it pointed at a redheaded girl who seemed less than pleased with the turnout, but nevertheless rose and gave him a quick, meaningless peck on the cheek, and the girls respaced themselves over her spot. She walked over and stood by me, apparently designating my spot as the done section.

Link was last in the lineup of boys to receive pecks from the remaining five girls, and he watched the spinning bottle while fiddling with his bow tie. There was a collective gasp when it stopped, and I peeked over the girls' heads to see what it was about. The blunt nose of the bottle pointed very clearly in Zelda's general direction. His face turned tomato-red as she stood and walked over to him, biting her lip and wringing her hands behind her back. They stood there, staring at each other, for twenty seconds or so, each with faces turning deeper shades of red with each passing moment. Finally she leaned forward and kissed him lightly on the cheek, and he ducked his head and scampered away, just as the other boys had done, to the outburst of hysterical giggling from the remaining girls. The five girls in my corner and myself jumped as the door opened, and a man dressed in red robes also embroidered with the triangular pattern down the front and bordered in gold looked in at us.

"Everything okay in here?"

"Yes, father," Zelda said.

"You guys managing pretty well?"

"Yes, father."

He looked around the room, not really paying attention to who was in there. His eyes narrowed a little.

"Zelda, where did you get that bottle?"

"I found it." She looked uneasily at a redheaded girl sitting to her left in the circle.

"You're not supposed to play that game, you know that."

"Well..." Her voice trailed off.

"Nevermind. It's your birthday. You just continue what you're doing and I'll stay out of the way. Just checking in, that's all." He stepped back and his eyes fell on me for half a second before he closed the door.

"Thanks for not ratting me out Zelda," the redheaded girl said quietly. Zelda giggled.

"No problem, Malon."

"What are we gonna play now?"

I'm pretty sure it was the same girl asking the question this time around too, because her voice was high-pitched and still excited. The source of this voice seemed to be a brunette who sat facing away from me.

"We have a few options..."

"What are they?"

The girls in the circle began pulling themselves up and the boys, recovered from their recent embarrassment, returned from their respective corner on the opposite end of the room.

"Let's do this...Everyone line up!"

We all formed a crude line across the diagonal of the room, trying to avoid various obstacles such as the present table and a random, fat golden triangle with pieces of confetti falling from it that hung suspended in the air from a string attached to the ceiling. Having avoided the last game, I felt grudgingly obliged to participate in this one.

"Zelda says...go like this." She stepped forward and waved her arms about while turned around and facing front again at the same stance she started in. Compact as we were, imitating her moves proved a bit difficult, and a number of people to the left were called out before they even finished. "Aww, Fina and Harris, you turned the wrong way, Calvin and Igraine stepped out with the wrong foot, and Link, I don't even know what you were doing." She cocked her head at him as he stepped out with the other four and the rest of us respaced to allow for more elbow room. "Now...Zelda says..." She looked across the line. I glanced to my left, and realized that I was at least a head taller than everyone else there. The two girls that were out stared at me and whispered to each other, and Cavin made an effort to avoid looking in my direction. Just a bunch of kids. My jaw tightened. _This_ was why I hadn't wanted to go-I'm older than her, she doesn't know me, and all the other kids she would think to invite are about the same age as her, so none of them will be comfortable with my presence. "Take one step forward, two steps back, three steps to the right, do a four-count turnaround, slide to the left, hop twice while going forward, and end like this." She turned around and, with her weight on her right foot, stuck her left leg out and spread her arms as if expecting to either receive a hug or to be dragged off to the right by her hip. Almost mechanically, we began to carry out her instructions, but they were a bit fuzzy because she hadn't repeated them at all. After the two steps back a group of five girls to my left burst out giggling and broke from the line. The girl to my right turned around in two counts instead of four and nearly tripped over her rushed feet when she tried to slide, and almost knocked me over as well in the process. Trying to figure out where she went wrong, she stepped from the lineup and watched. The rest of us were hopping by this point, and we struck the specified pose, and Zelda laughed and clapped her hands.

"Yay! Hehe, good job, everyone! Now, uh...Zelda says..." She put a finger to her chin and frowned. "Zelda says reset."

We respaced ourselves again. Three boys and two other girls remained with me.

"Zelda says pair up!" She said, clasping her hands together in an excited manner under her chin with her elbows sticking out like chicken wings. Pair up? I looked at the boys. The girls had already picked out two of them, and the last one, a brown-haired one with green eyes and a naturally reddish face, looked up at me. I glanced back at Zelda. She turned to the outcasts. "Hey Link, c'mere."

Link obediently walked up to her. She took his hands in hers and held them up about shoulder height, and turned her head back to the rest of us.

"Zelda says dance!" She and Link began twirling around awkwardly.

The boy and I looked at each other for a few seconds, then he bowed his head and walked slowly to the side of the room. I folded my arms. Really? I put my left hand out to the side like I was holding someone's hand and placed my right hand on my chest, about the height it would be placed if it were on someone's back, and I swayed with myself from left to right, turning at random. The girls that sat to the side watched me and began laughing amongst themselves, and when Link was turned in such a way as to see me, he snickered. When Zelda was able to see, she shrieked to herself and doubled over laughing. I just smiled at them and closed my eyes, continuing to dance by myself. When I reopened them maybe ten seconds later, the other girls had stepped from their places along the wall and were beginning to follow my example, and even Zelda dropped Link's wrists to try to imitate me. After about a minute of that, laughing, she cried, "Zelda says stop!"

We stopped and reassumed our positions. Still giggling, she put her hands behind her back and considered us.

"Zelda says spin around five times as fast as you can!"

I immediately pushed off the ground with my left foot and turned to the right, pushing off again and again as I lost speed. She smiled at us.

"Malon, Fado, you're out."

Only one boy and another girl and myself remained at this point.

"Zelda says jump...Zelda says step forward, Zelda says step forward, Zelda says step forward. Step forward...ha!" She burst out into giggles as the other girl took another step forward. The boy had flinched, but hadn't taken the step. She looked from one of us to the other, then grinned. "I won't make you two fight it out."

"Can you open presents now?" One of the girls whose name I had yet to learn jumped up and down.

"One more game! This should take up more time than the others did." Zelda walked to the door and opened it, gesturing for us to file out.

"What are we doing now?" Malon asked.

"We're going to play...hide and seek!" She grinned mischievously. "I'm going to count to one hundred, then I'm going to come after you! If I find you, then you have to help me find everyone else!"

Good. An independent project.

"Ready? One, two, three..." She turned into the wall and leaned her forehead against her forearm. The kids all ran down the hall, laughing as they exchanged ideas as to where they could hide. I followed shortly after, not wanting to get caught in the traffic.

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**Wheee, hide and seek. Playing this in Hyrule Castle sounds like fun thing to do.**

**I don't have much to say about this chapter...**

**But I hope you like it. ^-^ Please review!**


	5. I Swear, Her Curiosity Will Kill Her

Hyrule Castle probably covers the same amount of space as the castle town, but no matter where I ran, none of the rooms looked promising. They were mostly empty air and columns and chairs, except for the bedrooms, which I avoided due to the amount of giggles I heard just opening the door. After much wandering, and most likely the consumption of the hundred counts, I sat on the platform for one of the potted plants in the courtyard and sighed, leaning my forehead against the palms of my hands. The setting sun cast an orangey light on the eastern wall that reflected off of the stone and allowed for visual distinction.

I picked my head up and looked at them. If nothing else, I could conjure something up for her with my magic, but what that 'something' was still had to be determined. She likes pink things and dresses, Link said. Gee, that helps. I sighed and hopped off of the platform and looked up to the sky. If I had wings, I would be able to just fly right up out of the hold in the castle, or anywhere for that matter. Maybe Zelda feels that way too, if she ever stands here and looks up. The idea struck me, and I bowed my head and mumbled to myself, and about a minute later the clink of metal on metal sounded and I smiled to myself, and put the angel-wing hair clips in the knot around my back. That settled, I was prepared to return to the party, but as I turned to the doorway, I heard a strange pulse of sound coming from the back of the courtyard. Frowning, I turned around. A faint light grew in the form of an archway on the back wall. What was the source of this light? As I approached, the light grew stronger and a cavity formed, leading to a hallway masked in darkness. I glanced briefly back to the entryway to the rest of the castle.

_Should I...?_

No one was there to witness. I stepped into the passage.

After first blindness prevailed, but then either my eyes adjusted or the room to which the hallway led had its own light source beyond my knowledge. It was a plain, circular room with a dusty floor and stone walls, on which hung tapestries depicting some textless legend of sorts. The first showed hordes of monsters being defeated by a boy clad in green, the second showed a black, diamond-covered demon holding a blond girl high in the air with magic as a dark being rose before them, the third a scaly man with fiery hair who looked down at the boy in green, in the fourth they fought, and the fifth showed the boy and the girl standing atop a statue looking up at the shadow of an island in the sky. I frowned and peered more closely at the fourth panel. The boy depicted there looked like an older version of Link, wielding a wide, double-edged blade. I shrugged it off; it was probable a result of the green outfit the boy wore; Link doesn't wear a hat.

Turning around, I saw finally a pedestal in the center of the room, from which protruded a black sword with sharp bevels down the blade, which seemed stained with a dark red. Two bat-like wings spread from the crossguard and the red gem in the center. Judging by the three triangles stacked together to form a bigger triangle on the blade itself, I assumed this was a royal blade, since the same shape was on Zelda's dress and the King's robes, which led me to wonder why it sat in this secluded room, away from the public eye. Link's grandfather, being a swordsmith, often told us stories of ancient blades of legend, but he had never mentioned one that looked like this. I wanted to pull it out and give it a wave, if only just to see if I could pull it out at all. Taking a firm stance in front of it, I wrapped my hands around the hilt and yanked upward, and they slipped up, cut themselves on the edges of the pommel, and I fell backwards, crashing to the ground with a startled yipe. I stood up again and inspected my hands. Little droplets of blood seeped up from the cuts. My eyes narrowed and I folded my arms and considered the sword in front of me. If I could just get it out of the ground, I could at least take it to someone who might be able to tell me about it. Given the circumstances under which I found this place, I wasn't quite sure it would still be here if I left it. So I reassumed the position and held the hilt more securely, and this time when I yanked my hands up the sword followed, and I immediately toppled backward again from its weight. It clattered to the ground beside me, and the sound rang in my ears and bounced off the walls and made me cringe. Someone _had_ to have heard that. I rolled over and pushed myself up to my knees, and reached for the hilt again, barely able to lift the sword itself because it was so heavy. I finally managed to stick the point into the ground and I used it as a balance pole as I pulled myself to my feet again.

Now that I'd gotten it out...what was I going to do with it? I couldn't lift it easily, dragging it behind me would be just as difficult, but I didn't want to just leave it there. Why had this sword never been mentioned anywhere?

A bright light suddenly burst from the center gem and the force knocked me away from it into the far wall. A cloud of darkness began forming in front of it, shaping itself into a blob as tall as the blade itself. When the darkness faded away, it revealed a crouched man with milky-white hair and dark skin with faded, white, diamond-shaped runes running up his left leg, around his waist, and on his right shoulder. He peered at something, perhaps his hands, and began to laugh in a strangely metallic voice. I shivered and began slowly pulling myself away from him. Then he rose and turned to face me, revealing that he was really twice as tall as the blade. Even across the room, he towered over me with demonic white eyes and a face splattered with whitish diamond shapes. A red diamond similar to the one on the hilt of the sword marked the center of his chest, outlined in gold. As he registered my presence, he leaned his weight on one hip and inspected me, and something of a scowl formed across his face.

"Wh-who are you?" I choked. My eye twitched and my voice shook. Not expressing me fear grew harder as time passed with this strange man.

He smiled and placed a hand over the red gem and leaned forward.

"My name is Ghirahim, Mistress."

_Mistress...?_

I pulled myself a little further away.

"Uh...What are you doing here?"

He let out a short laugh, as if I was supposed to already know that. "I am the spirit that resides in the sword you apparently had the strength to pull from its place in the ground."

"How-"

"Like this." He jumped into the air and split into a million tiny diamonds that flowed into the gem in the sword, and likewise immediately emerged again. "See?"

"Um..." My back hit the wall. He cocked his head at me.

"Are you afraid?" His mouth curled into a snide grin.

"No, not at all...just startled, that's it." I pulled myself to my feet and took two steps forward, but when I turned my eyes to him again, he wasn't there.

"It's good to know you aren't afraid of me."

His hands suddenly clamped around my shoulders and I felt his breath on my ear, and I stiffened with a gasp. His chuckled smugly and straightened up as I stumbled away from him and tripped over my own feet, falling yet again to the ground in front of him. He sighed.

"Just a child...a _girl _child at that. I had hoped for one more readily capable, but I suppose that since you have drawn the sword, I will have to commit to you."

"What a-are you talking about?" My voice quavered and I stood again.

"Oh, my apologies, Mistress, I was simply thinking aloud." He bowed again and my face grew uncomfortable warm.

"Well...um...we have a problem here."

"What's that?"

"I can't pick up the sword."

"And?"

"Well, I can't take it with me if I can't pick it up."

"That's not a problem."

"What-how?" I frowned.

Ghirahim's smile looked more like a sneer, with one side baring a tooth. He picked up the sword and ran his fingers along the blade, his eyes never leaving my face. I watched him, almost mesmerized. Then he suddenly plunged the blade into his own chest. I shrieked and took a step backwards, reaching out behind myself for the wall. The gem on his body glowed as it consumed the sword, and a few seconds later he held his arms out with that same grin.

"See? No problems here."

"Please...don't...scare me like that."

He observed me and chuckled again. I was actually _shaking_ with fear. My face may have done nothing, but my body certainly betrayed my emotions well enough for him.

"Worry not, Mistress, I will not harm you."

"Why do you keep calling me Mistress?"

He answered without even thinking about it, "Because you pulled the sword from its place, and that makes you the mistress of the sword, thus my Mistress." He bowed again.

"Well...don't call me that."

"Then what am I to call you, Mistress?" he purred.

"Autumn...my name is Autumn...don't call me Mistress. In fact, it would be better if you hid yourself from sight most of the time."

"And why is that, Mistress Autumn?"

I cringed at the combination of the two words.

"Because I spend my time around people who wouldn't take too well to your presence."

"You haven't taken very well to my presence yourself, if you don't mind my saying."

"They'll take even longer to adjust and they might try stuff."

"Like what?"

He leaned in my general direction, his face a mere inches from mine, and I turned into the wall in discomfort.

"Um..."

"I assure you, anything they try isn't enough to defeat me." He pulled away and proudly straightened himself up, and when I looked up into his face, I knew just how inferior I was in comparison to him.

"It's not that, it's just..."

"Just what?" He cocked his head at me.

"You're kind of um...intimidating," I admitted.

"Hmm." His smile returned. "No worries. That is easily fixed."

He brought his arms in as if hugging himself and doubled over, and a black cloud shrouded around him. It broke away sudddenly, and when he straightened up I just stared at him in shock. He completely changed. His hair, while still white, was now slicked back except for a single part which hung down over the left side of his face to a point, his skin almost glowed in its ghostly paleness, and a soft purple underlined his eyes which, I was glad to see, now also had irises. He wore a single-strapped white body suit with diamond cutouts running up the legs and another triangular cutout that exposed his abdominal muscles above a yellow strip of fabric around his waist that was held together by the same red diamond that had jutted out of his chest in the previous form. A golden armband circled around his upper right arm and his gloves featured the same cutouts as his legs. The lower half of his face was hidden from my view by the high collar of a crimson cape that wrapped around and ascended to a point behind his head. It hung down from his back and then formed three different points, with yellow diamonds lining the inside.

"Is this better?" he asked with a smirk.

"Well, yes, but..." I didn't want to tell him that my point was I didn't want anyone seeing him at all. Shame flooded my stomach as I realized the full weight of my actions. I had walked into an unidentified area without permission, and if the sword held within really was of royal descent, then it wasn't in my place to be taking it, much less to be regarded as 'mistress' by its spirit. The knowledge of this disrespect swirled in my mind and I bowed my head.

He flipped his hair. "Well, I can pull of any look, so even if this didn't suffice, I would easily be able to come up with something acceptable."

"Ghirahim," I said tiredly. "Please find something to do with yourself that will allow you to remain out of sight."

He looked at me and apparently registered my sorrow.

"Yes, Mistress Autumn." He bowed, and with a snap of his fingers he disappeared in a cloud of purple and yellow diamonds.

I turned into the hallway and stumbled out, trudging really. Shadows clung to the walls of the courtyard and blocked my vision except for what little light leaked in from the far castle corridor. I walked to it without thinking, dreading the return to the birthday party, if it was still going.

* * *

**This was a loooong chapter o.o' um...yeah.**

**So Autumn gets Demise's sword but she can't even use it haha. Ghirahim's personality would be easier to portray if this was from his point of view X.X but alas, for some reason this is in first person, so I can't do that.**

**I hope you don't hate me too much for this chapter...**

**Please review!**


	6. Ship Now, Sail Later

**Lol Irrelevant title is irrelevant XD.**

* * *

Shrieks of laughter and conversation slipped out through the space between the door to the party room and the floor as I approached. I scratched my head and reached for the knob. The children hushed and an eerie silence fell across those present as I opened the door and stood there. I must have looked a mess-I'd fallen multiple times, been knocked across an old, dusty room, cut my hands, my dress was dirty at the edges, my hair was probably completely out of its original bun...It's no wonder they stared at me for a few seconds before anyone made any noise.

"Autumn! You're back! Are you alright?" Zelda rose quickly to her feet, knocking a few wrapped packages from her lap in her haste.

"I'm fine," I said quietly as she ran up to me. I reached behind me and pulled the hair clips from the knot and bowed as I handed them to her. "Happy birthday..."

She gasped as she took them. "Thank you!" She turned them over in her hands for a few seconds, then she looked back at me. "What happened?"

I straightened up and grinned mischievously. "I hid in the courtyard."

"But you...you're a mess."

"Tripped a couple times. I'm fine."

"Are you sure?"

I nodded. "Sorry I took so long-I couldn't hear what was going on from my position and wasn't sure how long it would take to find everyone."

She giggled, "Link was hiding in a Darknut suit. It took us eons to find him!"

"Sounds about right." I searched the crowd of children for him. He stared at me with wide eyes. "Please, continue opening your presents...sorry I interrupted."

"It's fine, I was a little uneasy starting without you." She smiled at me, then looked down at the hair clips and giggled again as she spun and bounced back to her place amidst the gifts.

* * *

"Bye Autumn, it was nice to meet you!" Zelda waved her arm at me with a broad smile. "And thank you for the clips! They're gorgeous!"

I smiled and waved back half-heartedly. Link grabbed her by the arm and pulled her aside, presumably to give her his present. When it became apparent that he hadn't placed his present on the pile, Zelda had smiled and shrugged it off, but I could tell she had been looking forward to opening his present. I heard a quiet gasp and a muffled shriek of joy and suddenly Link staggered backwards with her dangling from his neck.

"Come on, Link, let's go." I grabbed his wrist and dragged him away.

"Thank you, Link!" she called after us. "See you guys!"

"What was that for?" he complained.

"It's late, I'm tired, and I want to go home," I said.

"You can leave without me."

"Gramps would have my head on a pole if I did that."

"No he wouldn't!"

"Wanna bet?"

"Well..."

"Exactly."

"He wouldn't though, he'd just-"

"He'd just make me come back for you, which would defeat the purpose of going home in the first place."

Link shut up and started walking himself, and I dropped his wrist.

The same squire was standing guard as we left.

"You guys enjoy the party?" he yawned.

"What are you doing still up?" I asked him.

"Shift doesn't end until the eighth bell toll," he said. "I'm here until the shift ends."

"Huh...Bye."

"See ya."

Link turned and waved to him as we walked away.

The night closed around us and made us shiver, and we huddled together and tried our best to ignore it, and at long last we arrived home.

"Hey! I thought you guys would never return. Sheesh, what did she make you do, play dress up?" Gramps grinned and hugged us. "How was it?"

"It was long and bright and loud," I said.

"Did you enjoy yourself?"

"Um..."

"Good. I bet you're tired."

"Yeah, exhausted. G'night." I ran up the stairs before he could say anything else.

* * *

A strange voice woke me the next morning. Link was still snoring in his bed across the room. I donned my purple tunic and snuck downstairs.

"Well, sir, I don't know what your deal is, but I simply can't allow that. I don't have any basis on which to trust your claims."

"I assure you that under my direction she will prosper in the ways of sword fighting."

"Why does she need to know how to wield a sword? She's just a girl."

"She is your assistant, is she not? Isn't that reason enough?"

Gramps tensed and I peered around the corner of the stairway. In the doorway stood Ghirahim in all his diamond-covered glory, weight on one foot, leaning against the house with a confidant smile on his face. He looked over and saw me.

"Well, she's here now! Let's ask her, shall we?"

Gramps made a noise and turned around. "Autumn?"

"Huh?"

"Um...This man, uh...Gerald..."

"Ghirahim."

"Ghirahim, then...This man Ghirahim says that he would like to teach you how to wield a sword, that he is the only one who can, and that you are the only one he will teach...I suggested that his lessons might be better suited to Link because, well, Link wants to be a soldier when he grows up, but he denied that almost instantly."

"I will have nothing to do with that rotten pipsqueak," Ghirahim muttered quietly.

"What was that?" Gramps turned to him.

"Nothing, just mumbling to myself."

"Anyway...do you know this man?" He jerked his thumb in Ghirahim's general direction, looking quizzically at me.

"Uh..." I didn't know what to tell him. "Well...I'd like to learn how to use a sword."

"Really?" He frowned. "But what will you do with that?"

"I dunno, defend myself?"

"Against what?"

"I'll enter the sword competition at the Picori Festival when I get good enough, that's what I'll do."

Gramps stared at me.

"So you're okay with this stranger teaching you swordmanship?" he asked slowly.

I shrugged, "If you're okay with it, I don't see why not."

"Well, I could-"

"I assure you sir, anything you can teach her, I can teach better," Ghirahim said sincerely.

Gramps whirled around with a set jaw at that.

"Oh really?"

"Yes."

Oh dear...they're gonna fight over this...

"What makes you so certain?"

Ghirahim laughed.

"You humans are so adorable! I am a master of the sword, I know its secrets. You may have been prestigious and acclaimed at some point, but now all you do is forge, and you have her help you. How can she understand the importance of the process if she cannot wield its product?"

"Hmm..." Gramps' guard was still raised, I could see. I walked up and pushed myself between them.

"Please don't fight over this," I said. "Gramps, as long as he's offering it, I don't see why we shouldn't take him up on it. It'll help, won't it?"

"I guess." He grumbled and stepped away.

"Excellent. Our first lesson starts now...Come, Autumn, come with me." He reached out and pulled me by the shoulders.

"Wait! She hasn't even eaten breakfast first!"

"Good, she won't get exercise cramps. Don't worry, we'll be back in short enough a time."

He took me by the forearm and snapped his fingers as the door closed. A strange blanket of darkness washed over us and suddenly we stood in the clearing in the Minish Woods that I had designated my practice area. My thoughts jumbled around in incoherent, jumbled strings of random numbers and letters that I couldn't understand and dizzily I stumbled forward and fell to my knees and bowed my head, holding my hands up to my ears and shaking it repeatedly in an effort to rid myself of my muddledness.

"For our first lesson," Ghirahim began, but I held up a finger to silence him.

"I can't very well learn anything if I'm stumbling around like a blind cucco, can I?" I asked, rising unsteadily to my feet. "What's with that teleportation thing anyway? Why does it do that to me?"

He leaned on one foot and leaned his chin against a fist.

"It could be that you're human, but you'll likely get used to it over time, Mistress Autumn."

I groaned, "Please don't call me that."

"I must call you something that illustrates your place, Mistress, otherwise my standing is inconsistent and rude," he said matter-of-factly.

"Ghirahim. I'm nine years old. I'm no one's mistress."

"You're my Mistress."

I sighed. "Whatever. Don't do in public."

"Hold out your hand," he instructed.

"What, why?"

"It is relevant to the lesson."

I frowned and extended my hand, palm down, fingers outstretched.

"Curl your fingers as if you're holding a tubular object." He watched me. "Yes, like that. Now, within yourself there is the essence of the sword. Call it."

"What?"

"Call the Sword of Demise to your hand."

"How?"

"You'll get it."

We stood there for a few minutes with nothing happening.

"I...I don't understand."

"Call upon the Sword of Demise; its essence resides within yourself. It shouldn't take long to find it."

I could tell he was getting impatient with me. _What is he talking about though? The sword of demise? What's that?_ Oh well..._I call upon the sword of demise._

There was a dark flash and I gasped in surprise as my hand dropped a few feet in response to the sudden addition of the weight of the sword.

"Would you tell me what I'm doing before you go telling me what to do?" I growled, managing to get the rip stabbed into the ground.

"I did tell you what you're doing," he said.

"No you didn't! You could have mentioned that this 'sword of demise' thing was the sword that I pulled out of the ground! You could have mentioned that even though I said I can't lift that darn thing you're still going to make me hold it!"

"Mistress, you won't grow strong enough to hold it unless you practice," he said bluntly.

"That's true, but you could at least give me something lighter to work with so that even if it's still a challenge, it's still helping!"

I rubbed my forearm with a wince. Just holding the thing for a few seconds had made my muscles sore.

"I'm just trying to help, Mistress." His eyes narrowed.

"Next time give me some more information, please."

He didn't say anything for a few seconds.

"Let go of the handle."

"Huh?"

"Ugh, do I have to repeat _everything_ for you?" His eyes widened. "My apologies, Mistress. Please let go of the handle."

"Um...ok." I pulled my hand off of the handle and the sword disappeared in a trail of black diamonds. "What the-"

"This sword can be summoned and dismissed at the will of its wielder," Ghirahim explained. "It helps if you have some magical prowess, which I assume you have, since you found the sword in the first place."

"Well, yes, I do consider myself some degree of 'good' when it comes to magic-wielding," I said, then frowned. "But don't tell anyone I said that."

"Oh?"

"No one here knows I do magic, and I'd like to keep it that way."

He cocked his head and held his hands up with a smile, "No worries, Mistress, your wish is my command."

I raised an eyebrow at him.

"Are we done here?"

"Done?" He chuckled, "No, we've barely even begun." He swept his arms out and his cloak slowly disintegrated. "I want to see how good you are at this magic you claim to use so well."

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**DUN DUN DUNNN!**

**I GET TO WRITE AN EPIC MAGIC BATTLE! :D**

**Well...It probably won't be as epic as it looks in my head X.X an author's lament.**

**I got tired of Zelda's birthday party. That's why I didn't go into more detail with it. Really, it would have just been Zelda opening the rest of her presence (Edit: ROFL HOMONYM :D It's supposed to say Zelda opening the rest of her presents...lol) and them eating cake and ice cream and singing Happy Birthday and Autumn feeling excluded because she's the oldest one there.**

**The problem with Ghirahim is that I don't actually know too much about swordsmanship...so I'll probably be basing his stuff on random Google searches or I'll be making stuff up as I go along...**

**But this isn't a story solely about how to wield a sword...so chances are I'll probably skim over it every now and then, but I won't actually zone in on any specific session...but I AM looking forward to writing this magic battle...**

**I hope you enjoy this chapter! :D Please review!**


	7. I Just Want to Help, I Promise

**Dear FatGuy OnFire with the guest review,**

**Since I can't PM you my response, I have to respond here...**

**Now, if I put Ghirahim in the character tags, wouldn't that spoil it for all the new readers? Admittedly, it might pique some interest in a reader who would ordinarily just read the summary and be done with it, but I'd rather keep his presence as a pleasant surprise than use it as a selling factor.**

**Also, I congratulate you on attaining a new tablet.**

**And I'm glad you love this. ^-^**

**Thank you for reviewing!**

* * *

I stepped back and wrinkled my nose.

"Did you have to take off your cape-thing for this?" I asked.

"Yes. I don't want it to get singed. Now, whenever you're ready, Mistress." Ghirahim bowed, then assumed a defensive stance.

My stomach flopped and growled.

"I don't want to fight you," I said.

"It's important," he said. "I must know what your talents are. If I do not, then I will be unable to effectively teach you."

"But you..." I already knew he was more powerful than me. "I've never battled someone before."

He laughed, "Don't think of this as a battle. Just think of it as a preliminary sparring. No one wins, no one loses; I'm just going to test a few things."

"I'm out of practice."

"You come here every day, do you not? Yes, you didn't come yesterday, but each day before that you were successful." He folded his arms and looked at me with an even smile. "Come, Mistress, I suspect your caretaker wants you back before breakfast gets cold."

"But..."

"It won't take long." He reassumed his defensive stance. "Whenever you're ready, Mistress."

For a few moments, I just stared at him. Then, with a wave, I ripped clumps of earth from the ground and whipped them at him. He put up a shield and they bounced off ineffectively, and immediately four throwing knives, glowing with purple light, appeared and swirled around in the air in front of him, and he flicked them at me one at a time. Unprepared for this, I jumped out of the way of the first, then summoned my own defensive barrier. The remaining three knives embedded themselves in its invisible surface. I began conjuring a tornado to twirl him around and make him dizzy, but already he prepared his next attack. A black cloud formed over my head with a massive overhang of static that caused my hair to lift from my back.

_Crap..._

An intense white light flashed and the lightning bolt crashed into me. Barely shielded from the full force of the blow, I fell to the ground, stunned, and the barrier crumbled. My vision collided with itself as I pushed myself up and looked around. Ghirahim snapped his fingers and the tree behind me burst into flame. Unsure of how this constitued as a threat unless I backed into it, I looked up. One of the limbs of the tree drooped over my head. I looked back at him quickly, pulling myself uneasily to my feet. A small gathering of bushes lay behind his feet, and some of the branches of trees that wove together to form the forest wall behind him protruded from the mass and reached out like wobbly arms. He raised his arms forward and pulled them in, and a shower of sparks clouded around me. I jumped and stumbled forward and swung my arm out in front of me, hitting him with a short blast of wind that sent him teetering backwards, and he tripped over the bushes at his feet and at my bidding four of the limbs wrapped around his wrists and ankles, and two more cross over his torso, forming a wooden X across his chest. He struggled with the trees, and found movements impossible. I grinned. He saw this and with an enraged growl he tore his left wrist from its shackle and swung it forward, palm facing me, sending forth a wave of force that slammed into me, and I flew backward into the burning mess with a shriek, and something in my arm cracked and pain shot up through me until it dominated my mind and refused to allow any other thought to pass through, and I bit my lip to keep from screaming.

With my concentration no longer focused on keeping him immobile, the trees slowly withdrew their arms, and when he stepped forward as I leaped from the fires and landed at his feet, hair singed, tunic burned, and skin flushed red, he leered down at me and I cowered, hugging my broken arm to myself. He reached down and pulled me up. I jumped at his touch, but when I looked back up at him, his face was less terrifying and in fact almost sympathetic.

"Well done, Mistress," he said. He looked me over with a faint expression of distaste, and took some charred strands of hair in between his fingers. "I apologize for the damage I have caused. Your master will be displeased with me."

He rubbed his fingers together, and the burned strands crumpled and fell off in little clumps of black dust.

I just stared at his hands, one of which rested on my shoulder, the other of which poked and prodded my arm.

"Let me see," he said.

Those hands...those hands that had so easily moved to harm me, were now suddenly moved to help me? It couldn't be. How was I to know that he didn't plan on taking my arm and twisting it the other way?

"Come, Mistress, let me see." He tugged a little and shoots of pain sprang up from the point of fracture. I shook my head and backed away from him.

"Mistress Autumn, where are you going?"

I broke through a cluster of bushes and ran away, away from him, away from his two-faced demeanor. One minute he wants to teach me swordfighting and the next he wants to put me in an unevenly matched magical duel against himself.

He appeared suddenly in front of me, having redonned his red cloak, with his fists on his hips, and he looked through narrowed eyes at me.

"Don't run away from me, Mistress, you won't be able to get far," he said, then reached out and deliberately took me by the broken arm, and I gasped and squirmed a little in his grip, but I couldn't go anywhere. "All I want to do is fix your arm, I'm not going to bite." His tone dripped with a condescending disgust. I looked away from him as he fiddled with the break, and slowly the pain faded away.

We walked slowly back to the house in silence. When we arrived, I opened the door quietly and tiptoed up to the bedroom that Link and I share to change into an unburned tunic. Gramps' voice wafted up from the lower floor as he realized Ghirahim's presence as asked him where I went. Link still lay sleeping. I walked up to his bed and loomed over him with a demonic smile and poked his face. He opened an eye briefly, then shut it again. Then he suddenly opened it again and saw me, and he jerked away from me and fell out of the bed, and I burst out laughing.

"Autumn! That's not funny!" He picked himself up off of the ground and glared at me.

"What?" I grinned. "Sleepyhead, Gramps probably made breakfast and ate it by himself."

"Where were you?"

"Elsewhere."

"Where's that?"

"Elsewhere."

He scowled, rubbing his head. "Yeah, okay." He frowned as I turned to leave. "What happened to your hair?"

"Huh?"

"Your hair. It looks shorter."

"Oh...I dunno, it's always been that length." I grinned again and hoped he would accept the excuse. "Maybe you're making things up in your head."

"Hm...I'm pretty sure it was longer last night."

"You're imagining things." I shook my head at him and trotted down the stairs.

Ghirahim stood conversing with Gramps, and I gave him a wide berth as I went to see what food lay waiting for me on the stove.

"So I'll come get her every morning then," he said. I regarded the eggs in the pan with a grimace at the thought.

"Alright, I guess." Gramps' voice betrayed his unease at this arrangement. "Autumn, how'd it go?"

"Pretty well." I helped myself to food as Link tramped down the stairs.

"Morning, Grampa," he said cheerily, then froze at the sight of Ghirahim, who also stiffened. "Who's that?"

"This is Ghirahim, Link," Gramps said, gesturing. "He's here to train Autumn in swordfighting."

Link's face fell. "But I wanna be trained in swordfighting too!"

"Well...he said Autumn is the only one he'll train."

"Lucky." Link elbowed me as he passed.

"Don't worry, I'll teach you some stuff as I learn it," I said, glancing at Ghirahim, who practically seethed at the kid's presence.

"Really?" Link sat down next to me with his plate.

"Sure."

"I...I should go," Ghirahim said stiffly.

"You're welcome to join us for breakfast, if you like," Gramps said. Curse that undying hospitality of his!

"No, I don't think I should." Ghirahim backed up to the doorway. "I will see you tomorrow Mist- Autumn."

"Uh-huh." I waved at him. _Get out of here already!_

He closed the door behind him.

"So where'd he come from and how come he can only teach you?" Link asked immediately.

"Uh...I dunno where he came from; I've never seen him before. I don't know why he won't teach you." _And judging by today, I don't think I want him teaching you anything..._

* * *

**Haha yeah, right...she's totally NEVER seen him before.**

**Oh, the secrets, the lies! I can't wait for the end of this.**

**Yeah, the magic dual wound up a lot less awesome than it was in my head X.X...But I did get to add in the trauma that Ghirahim would inflict on someone her age :D ...unless I flopped THAT too...**

**Not one of my favorite chapters, but it's ok.**

**I hope you like it; please review!**

**(P.S.-the next long period of time will probably be kinda timelapsed. Why? Because let's face it: life in MinishCapLand probably isn't that exciting, and if I went over every daily sword training with Ghirahim, this story would just get monotonous and boring if it isn't already. I might go over a trip to the Picori Festival once, but since that's what happens at the beginning of the Minish Cap plotline, that'll probably be just a brief summary too. Sorry if you want more detail, but Link and his grandfather lead a pretty normal life up until Vaati comes in, and the addition of the OC doesn't really change that. I'm not trying to burn your eyes here, I'm trying to tell a story that I find interesting X.X...)**


	8. Nemi Doth Not Like Names

**Dear "offended by u"**

**You have no balls.**

**Signed,**

**Red**

**P.S. No really, do grow a pair and sign in so we can at least understand each other.**

**Though I suppose you'd have to read up to this chapter to get the hint...hmm...**

**Oh well! Your loss! :D You continue to be "an opinionated bitch" and I'll continue to laugh at you for not even summoning the courage to sign in before you called yourself that. I may have a board up my ass and feel the need to be a bitch, but at least I can sign in before I do so.**

**Signed once more,**

**Red :3 ^-^**

* * *

I moved on from my fear of Ghirahim after a week of training—he refused to give me any time to think about my actions under the notion that an ability to react to his attacks spontaneously would save me one day. To encourage this, he also developed a habit of ambushing me, so much so that I couldn't permit myself to relax lest he knock me over.

"Autumn, why're you so jumpy lately?" Link cocked his head at me and gave me a puzzled frown.

"Apparently a true swordsman never lets his guard down," I said, looking uneasily out the window.

"That's what Eric says..."

"Oh good...at least it's common." _And not just something that he's making up to be cruel...wouldn't put it past him._

"I don't really understand why...we're on peaceful terms with the surrounding countries and there aren't any monsters wandering around all over the place, so why do we even need armies?"

"Ah, Link...if a true swordsman never lets his guard down, a true army never stops training." I glanced over at him, "It's the notion that one of the surrounding countries _might_ attack that keeps them awake. How long has it been since the last war anyway?"

"I dunno..."

"That's probably why...I'm sure the other guys are just itching to rebel at the moment, so we need to keep our defenses sharpened. And you know...there's always the issue of domestic policy and keeping civilization in check."

"You're using too many big words. I don't understand."

"You should."

"But-"

"Read some books, kid. You'll expand that vocabulary of yours eventually."

He folded his arms. "Books are so boring though...especially the ones you read! What does '_neca ignavu-_"

"Link, don't ever read my books again. Especially not _that_ one."

"But what is it?"

"Nothing you need to know about."

"Can I at least finish saying it? It sounded cool when I read it out loud..."

I felt a sickness forming in my stomach.

"You read it out loud?"

"Yeah!" He puffed out his chest. "All by myself, too!"

"Yay, you can read...were you thinking about anyone in particular when you read it?"

"Hm? Uh...no...there's this kid in my class at school who for some reason kept popping up in my head, but I don't wanna talk about him..."

I groaned to myself, then headed to the door. "I'm going for a walk."

"Like you do every day? Yeah, ok. See ya at sunset." He trotted up to the stairs.

I yelled up after him, "And don't touch my bookshelf!"

"Ok..." His voice trailed off quietly.

I poked my head briefly into Gramps' workshop. He sat in front of his massive heart with his earplugs in and his head tilted back, snoring. He wasn't going anywhere.

* * *

It was a fine discovery in the forest clearing, a scattering of torn pages and ripped bindings. When I'd found it, soiled and ancient though it was, I opened it anyway, gazing in delighted wonderment at the leaves that greeted me. Spells upon spells upon spells, spells so old not even the neighborhood scholar would have an inkling of knowledge of them. Not once did I stop to wonder whose it was, whence it came, how it came to be left so conveniently in my path—I didn't care; I scooped it up and carefully snuck it up into my room, where it lay hidden under my pillow until I came into the possession of more books, after which I felt I could safely hide it amongst the others on the topmost perch of the shelving unit on my side of the room. I took it out only on those occasions in which I _knew_ I would be alone for an extended period of time.

A frown tugged at the corners of my mouth as I walked. But how had Link gotten to it? Of all the books to choose from, he happened to chose the one that would cause the most damage if he understood the contents inside, and of all the spells to recite aloud, he'd found a killing curse that affected the one most prominently in thought at the time of recital.

As I turned the corner into the clearing, he suddenly appeared there and brought his sword down in a diagonal slice, which I quickly jumped back to avoid, and then I summoned my sword and swung to slug him in the face with the hilt, but he ducked and all that actually happened was I smacked the trunk of a tree.

"What are you doing here?" I demanded. "I made it very clear that this is _my_ time, that I am not to be disturbed, and that you have no right to be here after our training session is over."

"Yes, Mistress Autumn, and I do apologize for my misconduct, but there is an entire branch of swordplay that only you have access to," Ghirahim said. A wicked grin played along his lips as he ran the edge of his sword across his fingers.

"Oh? And what is that?" I folded my arms and glared at him.

"Power-focused attacks. Elemental magic and the sword go hand-in-hand, as if they were made for each other."

"And you can't save this for tomorrow's session because?"

"Because the morning is strictly for sword-only techniques. As you have so conveniently labeled this section of the day as your time for magic practice, why shouldn't I instruct you in the ways of combining the two during this slot?"

"Because I already told you before that this is my time, for _me_, by _myself_. I like my privacy."

He snorted, "You share a bedroom with the sky child; you have no privacy."

"And why do you keep calling him the sky child?"

He growled and crouched, prepared to spring at me at any moment. "I knew a child like him once...a mere child of a human, and yet this _child_ was able to outdo me every time we sparred, able to rip me from the victory that I so deserved for my efforts...I will never forget that boy's face, and I will never forgive him for fragmenting my Master's soul as he did and fusing it into that despicable sword."

I looked sideways at him. "So is that what those wall paintings were about?"

"Wall paintings?"

"In the room where I first found you, there were paintings all around that depicted some kind of creature's demise by a kid in green."

He stiffened at 'demise' and turned his head away.

"Do not speak his name," he hissed.

"Hm?"

"My previous Master. Do not speak his name."

"I don't understand...what's his name?"

He only glared at me. I shrugged.

"In any case, Ghirahim, you wouldn't happen to know any _white_ magic, would you?"

"I might."

"Do you or do you not?"

"I might."

I glared at him, "You're not proving that you have any respect for me, Sword Spirit."

He growled quietly, "Do not call me that. My name is Ghirahim, though I prefer to be indulged with my full title, Lord Ghirahim, but I'm not fussy."

"'Lord' eh? Lord of what? Declared by who? As far as I know, you're a bunch of diamonds that flowed out of the gem in a sword one day to scare me."

We glared at each other.

"Hm...You know...you're the most talented swordsman I know," I said.

He straightened up. "I have experience from many battles under my previous Master, most of which were victorious for me."

"And you apparently are the go-to man for magic use..."

"I am also quite experienced with that, yes."

"So wouldn't one so talented as you claim to have experimented with a wide variety of spells, good or bad, light or dark?"

"There is nothing I haven't tried," he declared, sticking his nose in the air.

"Have you tried...bringing someone back to life? And been successful?"

He looked down at me suspiciously.

"Yes. Why do you ask?"

"Because Link-"

"Oh, is he dead?"

I swatted him with the back of my hand, "No, you fool! But he did get into my magic book...and he found a killing spell, which he read out loud apparently. So he probably killed someone without meaning to."

He pondered this for a few seconds. "Revival isn't within the limits of human magic; I can't teach you anything of the sort."

"But you're not a human; you're a demon, and a Lord of a demon at that." I folded my arms and cocked my head.

"Nevertheless, it cannot be done. I have no reason to want the sky child revived."

"But...I..."

"You what?"

"I might be discovered..."

"Only if the general populace has reason to suspect you. If you've been smart up to this point then they won't, enough said. Now, what would be the most effective way to teach you this..." He wandered away, muttering to himself, apparently closely observing the surrounding plant life. Suddenly he looked up, glaring into the bushes behind me, then with a snap he disappeared.

"Autumn! We need your help, someone's been killed!" Link burst through the greenery, his face livid with excitement. I blinked at him.

"Eh?"

"A bunch of kids from school got sick and died, and the whole town's assembling at home to figure out who the bastard is that did it!" He gazed up at me eagerly, "Let's go!"

"Link, where did you learn to talk like that?" I reached out and tugged his hair.

"I just heard it around...is it a bad word?"

"Yeah. You shouldn't use it to describe people...unless you have a legitimate reason."

We began walking back to the house.

"Why are they coming to our house anyway?" I asked.

"I dunno."

"And why do we have to be present?"

"We don't—actually we're not supposed to be there, but I wanna know what's going on, and I need you to boost me up so I can see in through the window."

I grinned in spite of myself and shook my head.

"Hey Link..."

"Yeah?"

Reaching out and grabbing him by the sleeve, I forced him to stop walking and pay attention to me.

"You remember that thing you were gonna say earlier?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"No matter what anyone says to you, I want you to keep it to yourself. Don't mention it to anyone, not even if they offer you the most incredible thing you can imagine. In fact, it'd be better if you just completely forgot about it."

"But why? It's fun to say." He pouted, "It's not hurting anyone."

I cringed internally as he said that, and I knew that he wasn't just going to forget it..._T__his'll be fun._

"You know, we could probably just pretend to go to bed and hear them perfectly well from upstairs," I whispered as we crouched outside the workshop window.

"But that's no fun," Link whispered back. "There's no adventure in that."

"Geez why are you so obsessed with adventures?" I grabbed him by the waist and hoisted him up until he could hold himself up on the windowsill and peer in through the glass. "What's going on?"

"There are a lot of people in there." He sounded completely mesmerised. "They're all talking at the same time. Some guy with white hair and eye-glasses is trying to yell at them...This is no fun, I can't hear anything."

"This was your idea, I'll remind you," I grumbled, pulling him down. "We can't go in now; they'll notice us."

"Maybe if we go quietly, like on tip-toe, we'll make it." He looked over at the door with wide eyes, then he turned back to me. "Can we do it, can we can we can we?"

"Only if you lower your volume, kid." I took him by the sleeve again and pulled him over the door and gently pushed it open with nary a creak. Putting a finger over my lips to tell him to hush, I carefully stepped into the house and peaked out into the workshop.

_Holy crap, there are a lot of people in there..._

I waved Link inside and quietly nudged the door shut, then we padded over to the stair and sat down while listening in.

* * *

**And now, I present to you...**

**-drumroll please-**

**BA DA DA DAAAAAAA!**

**You got the World's Crappiest Chapter Update in Existence!**

**Use this poorly-written first draft to sort of get an understanding as to what happened between the first magic battle with Ghirahim and whenever it is that this chapter ends! I don't even know, and I wrote it!**

**Set it to the v buttons to use it whenever you want. There should be a fire somewhere nearby that needs feeding...**

**And sorry about the abrupt ending...I was kinda in a hurry to get this done.**


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